*** CHRISTIAN JOERGES, YVES MENY, J. H. H. WEILER (Edited by): What Kind of Constitution for What Kind of Policy? Responses to Joschka Fischer. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute (9 via dei Roccettini, I-50016 San Domenico di Fiesole, Firenze. Fax: (39-055) 4685770). 2000, 259 pages.
The Florence European University Institute is decidedly a benediction for those who, through taste and/or duty, seek to know where Europe is and where the tortuous paths of integration lead it or could lead it. The forward looking move, which inspires this rigorous work, would delight those who cannot be satisfied with being passive spectators of the major debate over the finalities of the European building process. This debate is now in broad daylight and the Laeken Declaration will be its first major crystallisation. This book very usefully draws attention to the wick that lit the keg or, at least, on the ideas of the man who dares to break the lead hood weighing for decades on the issue of finalities: Joschka Fischer with his speech at the Humboldt Universität in Berlin. An out of the ordinary speech (which we find in the work in German, in English and French) made not as German Minister for Foreign Affairs, but personally, from where a freedom of tone and thought that blew the lid the windless conformism, which prevailed before. An invigorating breath of fresh air that called, in the spirit of the heads of the Florence institute, on the academic world. This scientific book marked with the seal of boundless creativity superbly translates this aim. Sixteen European academics - starting with Giuliano Amato who is today one of the privileged advisors of the Belgian Presidency in view of the Laeken European Council - brings free answers to the ideas put forward by Fischer. The whole forms a crucial mirror of the sensibilities that, in the months to come, will be expressed in the framework of the major debate over what Giuliano Amato calls with finesse Quo Vadis Europe?
Such a book is not summarised, it is enjoyed page by page, bit by bit. Impossible, from then, to detail the main reflections put forward by each of the contributors: in itself, an entire European Library would not suffice. To situate the value of the work, only remains, from then on, the journalistic arbitrary and the choice of favouring a few contributions. One in particular. That of Charles Leben, Professor and the University of Panthéon-Assas and co-Director of the Institute for Higher International Studies in Paris. He begins from the realisation that Fischer raised a problem that is nor far from resembling that of the quadrate circle, namely that of wanting to improve the Community institutions and make them more effective with 30 than with 15, while allowing progress down the road of integration and while maintaining the nation-States intact. Though before examining the federal solutions favoured by the German Minister, he works towards returning to the source of the major part of the present dysfunctions. For him, it lies in the "two fold logic" which, from the outset, commanded the functioning of the Community. On the one hand, the intergovernmental logic or, better, interstate that is linked to the nature itself of the Treaties and which means that there is no meaning in talking of democracy within such institutions as the only legitimacy which matters is that of the States and their sovereign equality. On the one hand, a logic of integration or, if one wants, supranational, which means that the Community Europe has ever been a standard international organisation. This cohabitation has over time born, according to Prof. Leben, a great confusion as to the determining of the holder of the ultimate power, situation that lead to the accusations of opacity in decisions and the democratic deficit pinned on the institution. A final accusation, which, according to the author, means that we consider the Community (and beyond the Union) as something other than the United Nations, for example, to suffer from a democratic deficit… Thus, in the end, this accusation supposes that the final basis of the institutions legitimacy of which we speak is the people, the people of the Union, the people which, in democratic theory, are sovereign. But there, the supremacy of the democratic logic over the interstate logic is not (yet?) organised by the Treaties and more the Community building process moves forward, that is to say, more the elements of integration progress, more the distortion between the two logics increase to the point of becoming unbearable. Only for these lines, the book deserves to be read. Though there are many more. After having written on the differences of the nature of the Federation favoured by Fischer and the Federal State, Prof Leben tackles the confusion that exists between a legal notion, that of sovereignty, and a historic, political or even philosophical notion, which is that of the nation-State. He notably sees that the word constitution does not in itself return to any institutional structure before posing a assuredly fundamental question of our time; the desire to live together, which forms the basis of a nation-State must it necessarily mean that the collectivity in which is expressed, the nation, be a sovereign State in the meaning of international law? To those in favour of sovereignty who answer yes, Charles Leben replies that this is not the case: nothing means that wanting to live together must necessarily be expressed within a sovereign State rather than within a Federated State within a greater federal State. The French Professor to concludes that wanting to enable the nation-States to retain, in the framework of the European interview by Fischer, their sovereignty in the meaning of international law would be not be a good idea as he continues not to see how one could, in this case, conciliate the European Federation and the nation-State (inferred, State that are still sovereign).
This contribution positions well the exceptional level of the book as a whole. To bear witness a little more, let us mention in short two other reflections. First that of Agustin José Menéndez (Centre for Advanced Research on the Europeanisation of the Nation State at Oslo University) who, in turn, distinguishes in a highly enlightening manner the various types of democratic deficit and one of whose conclusions is to oppose the arguments of Eurosceptics, which it is democracy itself (…) which calls for supranationalism. Also, by underlining that there is no taxation without representation, he calls in a very rational manner in favour of a Europeanisation of certain aspects of taxation, arguing that the nation-State have far more margin to manoeuvre on the level of political decisions, when it concerns taxes that are Europeanised. Finally, for the right mouth, how not to mention the contribution by Prof. Helen Wallace (European University Institute at the University of Sussex) who shows in a convincing manner that the Great Britain of Tony Blair has overcome the time of "strident exceptionalism" while it remains partisan for an "organic development" rather than a great constitutional leap. A reflection that leads to an assertion from Giuliano Amato: One of the great questions of the EU today is (…)Quo Vadis Britannia ?" A book that, truly, dives to the heart of the major clarifying debate to come!
Michel Theys
*** JEAN -LOUIS QUERMONNE: Le système politique de l'Union européenne. Editions Montchrestien (31 rue Falguière, F-75741 Paris cedex 15. Tel: (33-1) 46338985). Collection "Clefs Politique". 2001, 158 pages, 70 FF, 10.67 Euro. ISBN 2-7076-1240-5.
Emeriti Professor of the Universities at the Institute for Political Studies in Grenoble, Jean-Louis Quermonne - who continues to teach at the College of Europe in Bruges - updates for the fourth time this work which is an unquestionable classic for those wanting to understand the European building process, from the origins to today. The author notes that the Union remains today, according to the formula of Jacques Delors, a unidentified political object, namely more than a confederation of State, but less than a Federal State. In this fourth edition, he concludes that enlargement means that the EU continues its quest for an identity and that is should "without waiting too long, show its political nature and announce its finality. From where arise the basic questions that lie at the heart of the present debate. Will the singularity and complexity of the Union resist the enlargement trying to constitute the "Great Europe"? Will it lead, on the basis of the single market, to the restoration of the disastrous "European concert" or to the rise of a new political power? History will decide, but it is being written under our eyes. The merit of Prof. Quermonne is to enlighten the stakes of the time and the possible future ones in the light of the path already crossed.
(MT)
*** JEAN-CLAUDE ZARKA: L'essentiel des institutions de l'Union européenne. Gualino éditeur (Paris. Distribution Benelux: Patrimoine, 168 rue du Noyer, B-1030 Brussels. Tel/Fax: (32-2) 7366847). Collection "Les Carrés". 2001, 144 pages, 62 FF, 9.45 Euro. ISBN 2-84200-389-6.
Senior lecturer at the University of Social Sciences in Toulouse, the author presents, in a didactic and reliable manner, each of the institutional actors of the Union as well as the Community actors. In this fourth edition, the provisions of the Treaty of Nice are taken into account.
(MT)
*** LOUIS LE PENSEC: La candidature de Chypre à l'Union européenne. Senate delegation to the European Union (L'Espace librairie du Sénat, 20 rue de Vaugirard, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 42342121 - Internet: http: //http://www.senat.fr ). Collection "Les Rapports du Sénat", N° 342. 2001, 40 pages, 25 FF, 3.81 Euro. ISBN 2-11-110441-8.
What is the state of progress of the inclusion of the Community acquis by Cyprus? How do the Cypriots view the accession candidacy? These are the questions that the former Minister Louis Le Pensec broaches in this report, drafted following several visits on the ground. At first glance, the answer appears simple. Thus, notes the French Senator, the significant progress that has been achieved puts the island among the very first accession candidates, even if some efforts remain to be made in the adoption of the acquis. Though in Cyprus nothing is easy, due to the persistent partition. One of the rapporteur's conclusions is that several elements - the present Turkish economic crisis and the fact that the engagement of accession negotiations with Turkey is conditioned with the respect for the Copenhagen criteria, for which one can legitimately believe that they include the resolution of the Cypriot political question… - may leave it to be thought that Turkey could not indefinitely support a blocking position over the Cypriot issue.
(MT)
*** GENEVIEVE DERMENJIAN, JACQUES GUILHAUMOU, MARTINE LAPIED (Edited by): Femmes entre ombre et lumière. Recherches sur la visibilité sociale (XVIe - XXe siècles). Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F- 75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - E-mail: publisud@compuserve.com). Collection "La France au fil des siècles". 2000, 320 pages, 158 FF. ISBN: 2-86600-388-8.
While being, in this work, circumscriptive to a region, namely the Mediterranean, the aspects of the visibility/invisibility of women in the surrounding society analysed by the various authors are universal and, as such, extremely interesting. More than twenty articles draw the reader, with equal joy, from one period to another - from the 16th Century to the 20th Century - and from one area to another, the provincial delinquents of the 18th Century to women company leaders in Marseille, from the women's resistance from 1940 to 1944 in the eyes of the north African novels and the Mediterranean area… the structure itself of the work is original: a first part, dedicated to "women under influence", develops the symbols and the representations, while, in the second, the bringing out of women is acquired through writing and action. The authors, nevertheless, recall that talking visibility/invisibility leads to the foundations of our societies, to stereotypes whose force weighs on the being and the acts of women and also of men, we too often forget. The research made by the authors brings them to realise that even if women are making their entry into leading political circles, this break is important, but still fragile and needs a vigilant eye. In the end, this battle may lead, according to them, to a form of visibility more or less clear, which bears witness to the appearance of a common area to men and women, of a common history in action, of another possible organisation of society.
(CB)
*** Méditerranée, un domaine de coopération: l'action des Etats en mer. Publisud (see details above). Collection "Strademed". 2001, 186 pages, 192 FF. ISBN: 2-86600-857-X.
Natural waterway since antiquity, the Mediterranean continues to see, today, a sixth of the world maritime traffic, while it covers less than a thousandth of the maritime surface area. The safeguard of persons and goods, navigation safety, the protection of the environment and the use of the oceans have lead, over the years, the international community to take various measures to organise this maritime area and its use. This work provides an account of a colloquium on the action of the Mediterranean States, which had been organised in April 1998, in Toulon, by the Groupe des Ecoles du Commissariat de la Marine and the Fondation Méditerranéenne d'Etudes stratégiques. Experts from five countries from the western basin contribute, while clearly pointing out both the importance of the coordination of actions by the States at sea within the each of them and the value of wide ranging international cooperation in this field, that this cooperation should even form a privileged point for implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in the spirit of the Barcelona conference.
(MT)
*** La Lettre. Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (17 passage de la Main d'Or, F-75011 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 43552518 - Fax: 43551880 - E-mail: fidh@fidh.org - Internet: http: //http://www.fidh.org ). June 2001, 20 pages, 25 FF, 3.8 Euro. Subscription: 300 FF, 45.73 Euro.
In summary are, among others, the logic of war which must be stopped in the Middle East, a investigative mission to the United States over the death penalty, sexual violence against women.
(MT)
*** One Europe, or several? The Dynamics of Change across Europe. Economic and Social Research Council (Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SH, UK. Tel: (44-1273) 678560 - Fax: (44-1273) 678571 - E-mail: h.wallace@sussex.ac.uk - l.d.dunn@sussex.ac.uk - Internet: http://www.one-europe.ac.uk ). Spring 2001, N° 5, 8 pages.
With this newsletter, the British University network named "One Europe or several?" provides sources of information available on very diverse European problems. This issue informs in particular the research groups that, in the United Kingdom, are interested in enlargement and all that is related to it: borders, migration, labour market, regional identity, European citizenship… Other information concerns a democratic audit of the European institutions and Great Britain and the Euro. Other themes broached: on the sidelines of the Treaty of Nice and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, finally "a single Europe or several?" All this with a very British touch, but with the clear desire to think "European". Not to be missed.
*** Liaisons Sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (1 av. Edouard Belin, BP 52 F-92 500 Rueil-Malmaison cedex. Tel: (33-41) 299991 - Fax: 299670 - E-mail: fturlan@groupeliaisons.fr - Internet: http://www.liaisons.sociales.com ). 6-19 June 2001, N° 34, 12 pages, 160 FF. Subscription: 3,200 FF, 457.35 Euro.
This issue looks at the question of the legitimacy of social partners at a time when the development of Community social policy is increasingly based on those, while the European Parliament will be bypassed. It also tackles, among others, the decision on access to the labour market in an enlarged Union and reforms to pensions in Germany, which are the object of a case study…
*** Opinion jeunesse. Forum européen de la jeunesse (120 rue Joseph II, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2306490 - Fax: 230 2123 - E-mail: youthopinion@youthforum.org), 2001, N° 5, 16 pages.
The review by the youth forum builds, in this issue, … "bridges" towards volunteering, passage that is not necessarily obligatory, but useful, towards the formation of a true civic opinion with youths… With 2001 being the International Year of Volunteering, the forum itself is taking part is it manner, by organising a Youth Convention for volunteering. To properly pass on the message that these initiatives are not theoretical exercises, but truly linked to a problematic European reality, the forum presents is relations with the youth organisations in Serbia …
*** Revue des questions humanitaires (La maison de l'Europe à la Bibliothèque Solvay, Parc Léopold, 137 rue Belliard, B-1040 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 7387592 - Fax: 7387597 - E-mail: info@humanitarian-review.org), Spring 2001, 74 pages Subscription: 48 Euro.
Guide of great value for NGOs and the candidates for voluntary action, this well stocked review tries to link current international and European politics to the practical problems that volunteers face once they arrive on the scene of interventions. Collections of points of view and interviews with humanitarian actors at all levels, diaries and special envoys everywhere, even in the corridors of the third LDC conference in the European Parliament, unusual publicity (mine clearance teams, etc.), list of events to come compete to make this review very complete and attractive, including on the presentational level!
Reviews in short
*** AESGPAGES June 2001, N° 98. This sheet from the European Association for the Self-Medication Industry first offers, in this issue, the talks on reimbursement in terms of food supplements, the food supplements Directive and the participation of the AESGP in debates concerning advances in the field… *** European Union Newsletter. Delegation of the European Commission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. May 2001, N° 2. This small letter from the Commission Delegation in Belgrade feeds great ambitions, either to establish a complete picture of the situation and the current events on the ground. Apart from the chronology of the EU-FRY relations and a description of the funds from the EU, which will be given to the FRY, it presents the specific problems of the delegation, stuck between the EU's desire to push forward peace, stability and prosperity, but also to properly manage funds. A task that is not always easy... *** Slovenia Weekly, Mai 2001, N° 20. This sheet, each week, reviews the current political, economic, cultural and scientific events of this small accession candidate country placed at the various crossroads of Europe, but which has also found itself the time for a dialogue between Presidents Bush and Putin, at the centre of the world…